Irans parliament has threatened to boycott Samsung (the South Korean electronics company) because of a comical Israeli commercial in which actors inadvertently blow up an Iranian nuclear facility using a Samsung tablet device. The commercial, which aired on the HOT cable provider, depicts a bored Mossad agent stationed in Isfahan, Iran, near the site of a nuclear reactor, who passes time by watching episodes of the popular Israeli television series Asfur, which airs on HOTs channel 3. The series four main characters appear, dressed in drag, and approach the Mossad agent. After chatting for a bit, one of them asks, What does this application do- and then touches the Samsung tablet detonating the nuclear reactor behind them. Samsung representatives denounced the Israeli commercial over the weekend but also expressed surprise and concern over the Iranian threat to boycott it over supposedly anti-Iranian content in the ad. The company emphasized that it played no role in producing the spot. Arsalan Fathipour, chairman of the Iranian parliaments energy commission, said that the commercial insulted the Iranian people and that Iran would consider boycotting Samsung. The chairman said that the advertisement presents Iran as a primitive society and Israel as a country that is strong enough to easily destroy Iranian nuclear facilities or assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists. HOTs management, meanwhile, has considered the Iranian boycott threat a blessing due to the international publicity it and its commercial have garnered. In the commercial, HOT offers a Samsung Galaxy Tab (an Android-based tablet computer) to customers who join their cable service. Samsung managers emphasized, however, that HOT offered their tablet only as a sales pitch and as an incentive to sign up for the cable providers services. While South Korea purchases 10 percent of its crude oil from Iran, at the end of 2011 it blacklisted 100 organizations associated with the Iranian nuclear program. However, it has not agreed to join a boycott of Irans crude oil industry. The commercial was produced by HOT without Samsungs knowledge or participation, the company said in a statement. It should be noted that HOT cable network utilized a Galaxy Tab in its advertisement solely as a promotional gift, Samsung said. As a member of the global community, Samsung is committed to demonstrating respect for all people and cultures around the globe, it added.
(Credit: YouTube Footage)
